Ziggy's Corner: This is one of my first
attempts, though not the first, at writing a children's
story. I hope I do well. I do plan on making more stories with these
characters, but only if this story does well, so please read and
review and let me know how I did. Thank you.

The Brown children
were twins of a very curious nature. The brother, Irwin, was just
three seconds older than his sister, Kimberly, and like most boys at
eight years old, liked to tease her about it. A lot! He was also full
of spirit, and liked playing baseball, and reading his comics when he
came home from school. He had brown hair, and freckles on his face.
His eyes were brown, just like his name, and his shoes were always
untied.

Kimberly was just
like any girl her age, and liked playing with her friends, and with
her large collection of dolls from around the world. Her hair was as
yellow as straw, and her eyes were even browner than her brother's.
Kimberly liked to wear pony-tails, but at the end of the day, it
always seemed to come undone for one reason or another.

Both children
loved to joke, and loved to laugh. And both of them were always
getting into some kind of trouble at some point. One time Irwin got
in trouble for giving their teacher a fake apple with a rubber worm.
Another time Kimberly got into trouble for letting their class' pet
mice out of the cage to run around. They were not bad kids, but they
had trouble listening to their teacher, and really had trouble
listening to their uncle.

The twins had been
raised by their loving uncle for two years, when their parents
mysteriously disappeared one day. He heard a knock on his door, and
when he opened it, there they were, without mom or dad. A note said
that they would return, but to take care of the twins with tender
loving care, and lots of laughter. That was not hard for their uncle,
for he was a very good man, and was an inventor. He was constantly
making things for people to be happy.

One day the twins
heard banging and crashing coming from their basement. They knew that
their uncle worked there, and kept his best inventions down there,
until he was ready to show them to the world. It was also where he
built them very fine toys and games, to amuse themselves with. And
where he made most of their school lunches for the next day too.

Irwin and Kimberly
knew that Uncle Bink did not like them to come down to the basement.
Their curiosity always got the better of them, and sometimes, without
meaning to, they would break an invention. Uncle Bink would just
sigh, and scold them, and then read them a funny story, sending them
off to bed. He was never harsh, and he never spanked them for he knew
they really meant no harm.

But on this day,
the banging and crashing, hissing and blowing, booming, and zooming
sounds were too tempting to stay away from. Slowly the twins crept up
to the large brown door of the old brown house, and put their ears on
it. They waited for a few minutes, and then nodded to each other.

"Let's
go in," Irwin said.

"But
Uncle Bink doesn't like us to go into the basement," Kimberly
cried. "We always seem to get into trouble."

"I'm
sure its okay," Irwin said. "What if he has gotten hurt? What if
he needs us to help him with something?"

The twins heard heavy chuckling, and they looked up to see their
uncle. Uncle Bink was not an old man, and he was not a young man. His
hair was red, like fire, and his eyes were brown, like theirs. He
wore large glasses, and had a big mustache on his lips.

"And
what if he catches you two by the door?" he laughed. He could see
that they felt bad, so he sighed and patted them on their heads.
"Well," he said. "I suppose it can't hurt for you to see what
I've made."

He lead them down the large, dark stairs, and into his inventing
room. There in the middle of the room was a tall yellow box, no
bigger than them. It had four kinds of buttons, each a different
color, and a small screen, that made it look like a television.

"This
is my Giggle Machine," he said. "When people are sad, and need to
laugh, all they have to do, is push one of these buttons."

"And
then what happens?" the twins asked excitedly.

"It
should do things to make them laugh," Uncle Bink said. "But I
haven't tested it yet. It's too late in the evening, and I have
to make dinner for us."

"Could
we help you work it?" Kimberly asked.

"No,
I don't think so. When I've completed it, maybe," he said with
a chuckle. He patted their heads and lead them back the stairs. "Now,
let's all go have some dinner."

But as the twins laid in their beds at night, listening to their
uncle snore, and his kitten purr, they began to grow curious. Uncle
Bink worked so hard to make them happy, wouldn't be nice to do
something to make him happy? So off they crept, down to the basement,
and into the inventing room.

"How
do you think it starts?" Irwin asked.

"Well,
let's just push a button and find out," Kimberly said. And she
reached over and turned a little green circle.

All at once the room lit up with different colored lights, and soft
music played. The twins looked at each other, scared at first. And
then Irwin smiled. And when he smiled, Kimberly grinned, and then
they laughed. They laughed, dancing to the music, and the warm lights
that circled around them. And just as it had started, the Giggle
Machine turned off the music and the lights.

"That
was neat!" cried Kimberly.

"Let's
try another one!" cried Irwin, and he pushed a red switch and the
television screen flashed on. The twins were scared again for a
moment. Then they began giggling and laughing as a funny cartoon show
with a silly clown appeared. They watched the show, and laughed until
the show ended.

"That
was pretty good," Irwin said.

"I'm
going to pull this purple stick," Kimberly said. She did, and a
funny voice came from the box, telling them funny jokes, and asking
silly riddles. The twins were rolling on the floor with laughter, and
sighed when the jokes ended.

"I
guess there's only one button left to push," Irwin said.

"I
guess so," Kimberly said with a wide smile. The twins looked at the
small orange square and decided to push it together. But when they
did, nothing happened. They blinked, and pushed it again, and again.

"It
must be broken," Irwin said.

"Yeah,"
Kimberly said sadly. They turned away began to walk to the stairs,
when suddenly the Giggle Machine squeaked like a mouse, and lots of
robot hands reached out and grabbed their arms and legs, holding them
down. Then even more hands came out, and took of their slippers, and
a few more came out holding feathers.

"Hey
wait!" Irwin shouted.

"No!"
Kimberly howled.

Too late. The robot hands quickly began tickling them, from their
noses, to their toes. Under their arms, and on their knees. They
tickled their ribs and their stomachs, and their ears. The robot
hands tickled them everywhere, and didn't seem to stop.

Their uncle heard their cries, and rushed to help. Seeing that the
hands would not stop tickling, he turned to the power cord and pulled
it out. Then he turned to them and frowned as the hands pulled back
into the box.

"Didn't
I warn you two that the Giggle Machine wasn't ready to be tested
yet?" He looked mad, and tapped a foot as he waited for them to say
something.

"Sorry,
Uncle Bink," Irwin said.

"We
just wanted to help," Kimberly sobbed.

Uncle Bink stood there and sighed and then a smile came across his
face. Then he laughed and patted them on their heads. "Well, at
least you didn't break anything this time. Why don't we go back
up and get back to sleep." His eyes twinkled and he grinned, "Then
when you two come home tomorrow, you can clean the garage and pick up
your room."

The twins groaned, as they walked up the stairs to go to their room.
Uncle Bink was never harsh with them; he never spanked them, for he
knew that they did not really mean anything bad. But that didn't
mean Uncle Bink never punished them. Curiosity may have killed the
cat, but for the Brown twins, it caused chores.

Okay,
how was it? I hope anyone who read this enjoyed it. If I get enough
reviews I'll post a second story, a sequel to this story. Anyway
thanks again.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.